Beirut Travel: Hotels, Dining and the Spirit of Lebanon

Beirut has been a crossroads for some five thousand years, and you feel the layers everywhere: Roman baths beside Ottoman mansions, French-era balconies above modern towers, church bells and the call to prayer within the same few streets. The Corniche, a seafront promenade, is where the whole city comes to walk, jog and watch the sun set behind Pigeon Rocks at Raouché.

But most people fall for Beirut at the table. Lebanese cuisine, generous, fresh and endlessly varied, is one of the world's great food traditions, and the city's restaurants, bars and rooftop lounges are among the liveliest in the Middle East. Our Lebanon travel guide covers the wider country.

Walk the Corniche from Ain El Mreisseh to Raouché for sunset at Pigeon Rocks. The National Museum of Beirut holds a superb collection of Phoenician sarcophagi, mosaics and statues. Explore the streets of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael for galleries, design shops and bars, and visit the Sursock Museum, a modern art museum in an exquisite 1912 mansion. The Saturday Souk el Tayeb farmers' market is a delicious introduction to Lebanese produce.

Beirut's nightlife is famous across the Middle East, from rooftop lounges downtown to cocktail bars in Mar Mikhael. See our pages on music venues, art galleries and Lebanon's history and culture.

Beirut's prime apartments in Achrafieh, downtown and around the marina have long drawn Lebanese families abroad, many of whom keep a home in the city. Foreign buyers can purchase property with some limits, and a local lawyer is essential. Our prime Luxury Real Estate agencies page is a starting point.